Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge

We fund and accelerate life-saving or life-improving innovations to help the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people impacted by humanitarian crises caused by conflict.

The Problem

In 2023, over 400 million people will need humanitarian assistance.

As the length, frequency, and scope of the world’s humanitarian crises increase, it is becoming more difficult to reach affected people in insecure areas with life-saving and life-improving humanitarian assistance. We need new solutions that respond to the needs of vulnerable, inaccessible communities – yet, less than one percent of humanitarian aid is focused on investing in the innovations necessary to reach them.

The Solution

The U.S. Agency for International Development, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Government of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Global Affairs Canada, with support from Grand Challenges Canada, are partnering on Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge.

Through this Grand Challenge, we will identify and support groundbreaking solutions that engage the private sector and draw from the experiences of affected communities in order to significantly improve – and in many cases, save – the lives of vulnerable people affected by conflict. Our goal is to identify solutions that allow communities to respond more nimbly to complex emergencies and take steps to create better lives for themselves.

  • 70
    Innovators Funded
  • 20
    Implementation Countries
  • $29
    Million Invested

What is Happening Now

Transition-to-Scale Program

We are looking for innovation ideas for our Transition to Scale (TTS) program. We offer funding between $300,000 CAD up to $1,500,000 CAD, and a robust support program that runs for  12–24 months. We focus on supporting people who have been affected by conflict with particular focus on the hardest to reach. Click here to learn more.

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